And who's wins are suspected to be the results of cheating.

Its a combo that is bound to bring out a little hostility from the natives.

I dunno Christian - I reckon he needs to do a little more before he can safely lay claim to "better than Eddy Merckx".

For instance, in one year Eddy won the Yellow, Green AND Polka Dot Jerseys. He has also worn the yellow for more days.

However, Lance has now won six!

Eddy Merckx himself will tell you Lance is a great cyclist, I remember when I was in Texas after Lance was in the recover mode from cancer...anyway Eddy and Lance competed in a team (2 person) time trial together. What a team that was.

that's the same portion that I saw. made me think "hell, that's all part of life." it is quite common to find people acting like angels in front of someone, only to totally trash them behind their backs, but it is still a crappy feeling should it happen to you

Lance is plagued by the same problem as many other top athletes like M, Schumacher, etc.: everyone loves to hate a winner

Lance is probably the grestest ever Tour rider. His dominance of the race is impressive as it is so relentless.

His team's sole aim is to enusre he is in the best position to win, as well as to keep him out of trouble...and why not. Afterall their aim is to win and that is what they focus on.

Is he the grestest bike racer? Probably not, at least not in terms of races won and personal style. Eddy and Bernard H had far more personal dominace of the sport as a whole, winning numerous one day classics and other tours during their careers. They also had much more personal control of the Tour even down to what happened during the 'easy' stages. I can recall BH. going after a couple of younger riders who wanted some glory and telling them to get back in line and wait for the end of the stage to attack because then they would not be as tired for the mountains.

Lance does not seek this dominance and for him and his team the Tour provides the major focus of his season. Its a phemonenal achievement and I certainly hope he is clean as it makes it all the more impressive.
GL's comments have to be taken in context as well. Considering the widespread nature of the EPO issue, affecting a very wide range of riders, even some deemed to be above it all, it would not be unreasonable to imagine Lance's involvement. Unlikely sure, but not impossible.

I cetainly hope he continues and goes for number 7 as that would make a superlative Tour to watch.

I understand Greg Lemond's bitterness. I think he was a better rider than Bernard Hinault. When Hinault won his fourth, he told Lemond that it would be his turn next year and then double crossed him- and the team backed Hinault!. Then Hinault tried to win a sixth time ended up second to Lemond. Lemond basically won that one on his own because Hinault wanted a sixth.

Then Lemond had that shooting accident and missed a year, but came back to win two more times. So conceivably, Lemond could have had six titles himself - the three he actually won, the missed year where he was recovering from the gun shot, and Hinault's fourth and fifth where Lemond was the better rider.

Eddy was still the better Tour rider even though Lance has the most overall wins.

In '69 He won the tour on his first attempt - unheard of even to this day. Plus, he collected the climber’s and sprinter’s jerseys as well, a feat that has never been repeated (he’s also the only rider to accomplish the same trick at the Giro d’Italia, in 1968). He's held the yellow jersey for 96 days — that’s almost 50 percent more days than Armstrong has spent in yellow. And Merckx holds the record for TdF stage wins, with 34 victories compared to Lance’s 21.

Lance won five stages this year, but Merckx won six and eight stages twice.

Aside from overall wins, Merckx has him beat.

Lemond also has some sort of degenerative disease going too, doesn't he?


Bicyclist: Will your disease affect your future in any way? Is much known about mitochondrial myopathy [a degenerative muscle disease that prevents the body from properly disposing of lactic acid]?

LeMond: No, nobody knows anything about the disease. I've heard so many variations of it. People get it as an adult and start to feel more tired, and then ten years later, they're in a wheelchair. Then I've heard of people who have it that couldn't exercise as a kid, but now they exercise and they feel fine. Nobody really knows. It's always in the back of my mind. When I do get tired from exercising, I ask myself, 'Am I tired just because I exercised, or is it the disease?'

http://www.roble.net/marquis/coaching/lemond98.html

I realize that Lance doesn't hold the record for stage wins or days in yellow, that is not his goal. His goal is simply to win the tour and his strategy is to not waste energy defending the yellow early in the race. Lance likes to punish his rivals in the mountains and on the time trials, he uses his strengths and his teams strength to his advantage and that is part of what makes him so great. The object of the Tour is to win, not spend the most days in yellow etc. Lance has surpassed them all on that level.

that's the important thing. just as in any other form of racing, the only lap you have to lead is the last one

Picture of France is reported to be from tour route:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1091161863.jpg